Complaint regarding server attitude Night of 22/04/2015

[JamesCampbell]

I just brought up this problem the other day on OOC.

I've often found myself feeling like an outsider, even as one of the longer playing members of Aurora. When I see the same people consistently getting invited into different offices and offered these technically non-existent jobs, round after round, it feels like there's some elite club that the rest of us aren't invited to. Surely if you want a job badly enough, you can get it white-listed like everyone else. I was told to simply walk over to the HoP and get it sorted myself, maybe ask if I can get an interesting job.

I (Paul Redeker) walked to the HoP office, granted there was some cult shenanigans on board, none my own, but after a lengthy consult with the very helpful HoP at the time, may have been Ellis Crowley, I was told to speak to the HoS, Silaris Uaekis, as soon as possible. I enquired about whether there was a possibility of either taking command of HoS, as interim command, or assisting the HoS in his matters, shadowing him and getting used to the role, in the event I was whitelisted. I was told by the HoP that I wasn't allowed be promoted from Assistant, to Security Officer, and certainly nothing relating to a command option, because after he suggested I take over, he simply said no, after a long series of questions, all asked to the HoP, not myself.

He said his reasons were "I don't know him".

That to me screams absolute elitism. I'm not sour about not being given a shiny new suit and a group of Sec Officers, I was angry with how the situation unfolded, and how poorly it was handled. Not only after I waited outside was I never actual seen, but when I tried to get into contact with any other Sec member, they all walked off. I feel the Assistant garb throws people off.

I have in fact worked with Silaris Uaekis several times, often helping a closure of a case, or a resolving of a crime, as detective or CSI, Sec Officer or whatever. I feel that a lot of the heads associate with each other too much, and it doesn't make much sense IC.

To make a long story short, I asked for what I saw being offered to "regular" people, and was treated like a bold child, made to sit there, and people answering questions for me. I know people are busy, but as a person experienced in Security, I felt that everything was a shambles that round.

Feel free to give feedback or explain anything I may have misunderstood, because I love this server, and I just want to make sure we all know what's going on to the "regular regulars" rather than just the elite singles group.

[Doomberg]

We have a standard complaint format for a reason. Please make use of it: http://aurorastation.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=23

[VoltageHero]

Now, if I'm reading this correctly, you were an Assistant, and wanted to be promoted to Security Officer? I believe I've seen Paul a few times ICly, but this what I want to know.

Does he records reflect any skills or training in Security? If you're falling back on other characters having played with Uaekis, or you personally knowing Security OOCly, that doesn't hold much weight.

That said, while it is kinda rude, the HoS (or any Head, for that matter) is in their full rights to deny a new member on their team, for various reasons.

I don't think medical would want some random doctor walking in, not knowing what at was going on, during an emergency. Although extra hands are good, they're not always coming at a good time.

That said, when are you seeing these events happen round-after-round? Provided I took a good sized break for a month or two, I have only seen the HoS get an "intern" a handful of times. There did used to be a character who would, every round be promoted as the Captain's bodyguard. I don't see this kind of stuff happening very often, and nowhere close to "round-after-round".

That said, I could be wrong, and if it actually is happening a lot more than I believe, then I would admit my wrong.

[Jamini]

In a stressful situation, familiarity can matter. Sometimes a head of staff will have time to interview a transfer and review their records. Other times they are simply far too busy to do so. In the latter case it comes down to a simple question:

"Can this person work in my department and not mess things up royally?"

While it may not be entirely fair, and might even be slightly elitist to say, there really isn't anything wrong with forgoing an interview process with someone who your character does, ICly, know can cover a job. The last thing you want during an emergency is dealing with a transfer of someone who does not know what is expected in their role, or who you cannot know if they will be reliable to do what you need done. While by all means refusing transfers during calm rounds is somewhat shitty, if the head of staff is busy you can't expect them to just okay your entry to their department.

As for command/senior roles? Those are very rarely done for a reason, and assigning an interim successor is a very, very important task for any head. You do not want someone who the team as a whole will ignore, or someone who will make the department look bad/act incorrectly. Just like you do not want to simply waltz into a department as a head of staff one day and expect the team there to respect you/do everything you say.

Frankly? If I was busy. I'd have told you "no" too. Intern positions and normal roles exist for a reason. Your best bet is to use them if you can.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

If you are an assistant and have no records in the employment computer, it is my HoP policy that you can't jump ship directly to officer. What I try to do to accomodate these matters is reassign the person to security cadet, or if they think they can, getting a HoS stamp on the form to promote him to a full officer, skipping the cadet phase.

If there isn't a reasonable expectation that the HoS can get a stamp (I try to keep track of how 'busy' command staff are and adjust my pestering accordingly) I just sign them off as a cadet.

However, you cannot jump from officer to HoS so quickly. This isn't elitism but a matter of practicality - it's a very sensitive and important command position, and can't just be handed out to anyone who asks for it. Even if it's someone I personally know OOC or my character knows IC, it is extremely rare to just up and promote someone to a Command position outside some dire circumstance.

This is my own personal playstyle as HoP, and while I can't reasonably expect everyone to play it like I do, I've found it's generally the easiest way to handle these things. Cadets and interns are department-specific assistants, so jumping around, for me, carries very little fuss. I tend to do the reassignment paperwork for such people myself unless I need a stamp or IC'ly someone was a butt and I want to make them work a bit more as petty revenge.

TL;DR

Becoming a cadet shouldn't have required so much humbuggering, but you can't reasonably expect people to make you a Command staff member or full security officer without credentials or former knowledge of your skills and abilities. Giving a department a shizzy employee rebounds on the HoP pretty hard, and can ruin the trust the rest of Command or that department has in them.

[EvilBrage]

This really comes down to employment records. I'm a bit stricter than most in that regard - no employment records means no additional access, job changes (to something other than assistant), or promotions - no exceptions. If you had no records and they didn't know you (let's get real - Aurora has around 400 unique players, you have to make an effort to stand out) how would you expect them to react?

On the other hand, I'd like you to outline these "same people who keep getting nonexistant jobs" for us so we have a better idea of what it is you're talking about.

[JamesCampbell]

Quick update on what I said, and also some details I missed.

My records were updated last week, and I used this:

http://sierrabrown.me/aurorarecords/index.php?uid=jamescampbell_paulredeker

They are all ingame, and up to date with the correct dates, as the dates in that link are actually wrong.

I had the HoP look over my records and he saw what was there, I saw him do it, and he even made a comment about how mining or Sec would be the best course.

After this I asked to be the Vice HoS, or assist him, but the HoP offered me the rank of HoS, but said he was now "awake" from SSD, but was promptly leaving, so would see if I could take over. He asked him, was set with a series of gruelling questions, never dealing with me himself, and not looking at my records himself either.

I have a full set of records, as you can see by the link above, and they do give credit of how I may be given at least a consideration of command.

Edit: Also Brage, I'd rather not name names, as I don't want any more controversy between players, but essentially I'm talking about roles such as Bridge Assistant, Vice HoP, Senior Medical Officer. Some of which have been occupied by the SAME character, who could not possibly possess all the skills required for roles such as those, as well as some of the others I have seen, especially not at their age.

[Doomberg]

Once more, please use the appropriate format found http://aurorastation.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=23 here. Failure to do so will result in this being locked.

[Blue]

JamesCampbell, don't get me wrong. It is defiantely frustrating to see other people regularly promoted to "Vice HoS" or "Interm CMO", and to have you yourself denied that role, even when your character is definitely qualified in those fields. However, allow me to play devil's advocate, with my own personal story.

Once upon a time, I was a CMO. I had a nurse join me and proceed to ask me for additional access.

I asked them what they needed access to. They answered with chemistry and genetics. First thing I did was check their records. Now, they did have records. And they were absolutely beautifully constructed. They had wonderful formatting, dates of qualification, years of practice, years of study, incidents, and everything was so specific it gave my inner bureaucrat a boner. I should also note the contents of their records; They basically had training in everything from surgery, nursing, virology, chemistry and genetics. I didn't scream Mary Sue because the character was rather nice to interact with.

Now, chemistry was already stocked, and you didn't need genetics as medical unless somebody was already dead, in which the CMO could open genetics up for them. They understood.

Here's when things start flopping out. A patient is admitted to the medbay, with terrible physical wounds. The nurse went and pulled them. That's right. Pulled them. Over across the hall. I screamed at them to use a roller. They didn't know how. I had to show them how to use the staple of medical transportation.

Then somebody needed surgery. A procedure which would have taken 2 minutes instead took 20, because she kept messing up. Now, I cannot stress enough that heads aren't the ones to jump in and powergame everything. If someone is struggling with their job, you gotta help them do the job, not jump in and do the job for them (unless it's a dire situation, of course), so that's what I did; Not jump in. Instead I advised from the observing room, giving them instructions on how to do the surgery both IC and in LOOC. It still took 20 minutes.

As CMO, I felt it was my duty to have a chat with this character. I pointed out their records to them, and how marvelous they looked. I also pointed out how the nurse's display of her knowledge in medical was not properly reflecting off her records. She apologized, and promised she'd do better. I let her go.

Unfortunately, somebody had died. My CMO character was not trained in genetics, therefore someone else had to do the cloning. Yep, you guessed it! Nurse Disappointment had to do it! She plopped the body, clothes on, inside the scanner. I informed her that she had to strip the body down first, and she was puzzled. Nevertheless, she did it. Then she popped him back in, his the scan button once, and said "He's gone, there's nothing we can do about him." I told them, IC and OOCly, that they had to hit the scan button multiple times, so that a ghost has time to get back into their body. Surprise surprise, they ended up being cloned after that.

Now if you thought this was horrible enough, read on. After cryo and Alkysine were given, and the clone was dressed, he then inquired why he was in the medbay and why he doesn't remember anything. Can you guess what Nurse Disappointment said? Mhm! You guessed it! "You got cloned."

Solo Jenifer Clewett, chasing a crazed half-naked man down the hallways with a syringe gun in one hand and a straight jacket in the other. She eventually got him down, and delegated his care to the psychologist. I had another sit down with the nurse, this time a little less passive. She didn't even know CMD! The one rule in medbay everyone is expected to know by heart (and follow at will). I told her that I was going to fire her, but she RP'd an emotional breakdown and begged me not to let kick her to the curb. Jenifer was a pure, kindhearted character, who reluctantly forgave her.

This round gave me too much stress. I decided to promote someone to acting CMO and go cryo. A friend of mine, who was playing chemist at the time, later informed me after I left, that the nurse threw a patient down disposals to avoid treating them for whatever reason, and was eventually banned. I never saw nor heard from them again.

And to think that I nearly gave them all-access within medical...

---

What's the point? It's that just because you have fancy records and you're doing good roleplay, doesn't mean you should be promoted to high positions. While that character had the records and backstory fluff to be the best CMO ever, the player themselves lacked the actual experience to play really anything in that department. Or maybe they were a troll and didn't give a shit.

Anyone can go and type whatever fabulous records they want, therefore, they cannot be a surefire way of determining who has qualifications or not. I'm not against the concept of characters having to prove themselves towards other characters (namely heads) before they can be given any kind of IC advancement. It sounds to me like you had already obtained that criteria from working with the HoS, but not the HoP. I can see why that might be upsetting, and personally, I feel like you should have gained the promotion because you had the word of the head of security, who knows better about his department than the head of personnel. But again, take what I said above with a grain of salt.

[Doomberg]

Alright. Due to general inactivity and failure to utilize the proper format, I'll be locking this. The author is free to PM me at any time to have it reopened - with the proper format, preferably.